Battle worn
by Okibimaru
Summary: a short one shot about Ichigo and Rukia, read to learn more


**Battle worn**

Kurosaki Ichigo the Hero of the Arrancar war, now happily married to none other the Kurosaki Rukia, during the war when the hollows finally broke into the Serenity they got engaged in order to keep the men's moral up high after all the princess of the Kutchki clan and the most powerful being joined together would defiantly be a good thing.

When the war was over they went into the living world took Gigai's and waited until they became human again, they even had a Daughter they named her Kurosaki Masana (AN I mixed the names of Ichigo's mum and Rukia's sister to get that if you haven't worked it out already) it had been six years since the end of the war, four years since the birth of their child.

Rukia was in the kitchen; they always invited at least one friend to have Sunday dinner with them every week today it was more then just a friend, Kutchki Byakuya, Rukia's brother was to be the guest this week, she had made him promise to come visit every now and then before they left for the real world, besides Masana loved her uncle very much and would jump with joy when he arrived, fortunately for Rukia he was not due to arrive for another three Hours because one question came to Rukia's mind, _how do you cook Pheasant?_ Being the head of a noble family meant her brother was obviously expecting a high quality meal so as a married woman **and** a member of the Kutchki family tree Rukia was expected to cook meals that where fit for a king "Ichigo" she whined "help" peering into the sitting room she couldn't help but smile as her husband sat with there four year old Daughter as she was colouring in her new sketch book, he also had a piece of paper and was drawing a very kiddie like picture "and I thought my drawings were Shameful" looking up the orange haired ex-shinigami laughed Nervously "oh sorry Rukia, I guess I said it to hide my own Shame" the two exchanged old smiles, it reminded her of when they where younger back before the war, sure they argued and claimed they hated each others guts but they where good times "anyway what is it you wanted?" remembering why she was there in the first place Rukia became serious again

"I need help with the pheasant, I don't know how to cook it" getting up Ichigo walked into the Kitchen, Rukia followed, she had noticed over the six years that Ichigo had become slower, he took his time with everything, you could say it was him getting old or work was keeping him from relaxing but the truth was Ichigo loved his job, being a teacher was what he enjoyed, Rukia new though, it was the life they were in, Ichigo was the son of a Captain in the Gotai 13, fighting and power was in his blood, Rukia's theory was that the lack of fighting had made him very depressed, he longed to fight longed to cut, the whole in his heart had to be filled with some kind of battle.

Three hours passed before the door bell rang, when it did the youngest member of the Kurosaki household went to the door "I'll get it" Masana called, opening the door she gasped "uncle Byakuya" she jumped into her uncles arms and embraced him

"Hello Masana-Chan, are you well" the small girl nodded

"Yes daddy has been looking after mummy and me, as always" the captain smiled

"Nii-sama, welcome to our home" the usual cold eyes of the captain softened when his sister entered the room

"Rukia, your looking healthy" the raven haired girl smirked

"I'm getting plenty of exercise"

"Masana cover your ears" Ichigo called from the kitchen and as her ability to hear became nil Byakuya stated very calmly

"Rukia I don't need to know about your sexual life with you husband" then signalling to his niece he let her know it was safe.

At the table the main conversations where normal, Byakuya informed Ichigo of what was happening in soul society then a argument would occur between Masana and the vegetable's the Rukia was trying to feed her. Looking up Rukia watched as Byakuya explained a small uprising in some annoyed members of the seventh division's new recruits and as Ichigo laughed she realised that soul society was where he belonged, the husband she was married to now was not her Ichigo, she new that, the man she fell in love with was a warrior, sure she loved him still but the man she was with now was just a man, she wanted more, she wanted her man, she wanted her Ichigo.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, it seems we have company" both Ichigo and Rukia felt a sudden familiar pressure after Byakuya's words

"Renji" Rukia was puzzled "what's he doing hear?" the door bell rang and Ichigo went to answer it

"Ah Renji come in" the red head walked into the room nodding to his captain he turned to the married couple

"Kurosaki Ichigo, I have been sent by central 46, we need your power, a powerful Arrancar has materialised in soul society, you're the only one powerful enough to kill it, we already lost two seated officers to it, and it claims it knows you" the orange haired man looked thoughtful for a moment

"No, I gave that life up long ago, I'm not a soul reaper anymore, I need to think about my family" Renji sighed but before he could say anything it was Rukia who spoke

"Go Ichigo" his eyes widened

"What, you want me to go?" she nodded

"I look at you and your unhappy"

"But I'm not different, Rukia I promised you I wouldn't fight, I promised to look after you" he stepped towards her but she stepped back

"Yes you are, you're my Husband and you and our Daughter mean the world to me, but you're not Ichigo anymore"

"What are you saying? I'm still Ichigo; I'm still the man you married"

"No, your Ichigo yes, but your not my Ichigo, I married a warrior, a fighter, I want my Ichigo back" she looked at the ground and began to cry, then she felt to strong arms wrap around her

"Rukia, I'm so sorry" Ichigo felt a tug at his leg, looking down he saw his Daughter "Masana, what's wrong?" the little girl smiled

"Is daddy going to get the bad guy's?" laughing slightly Ichigo nodded

"Yea daddy's going to get the bad guy's" picking her up him gave her a kiss on the cheek then kissed his wife before leaving with the captain and his vice.

This was supposed to be simple, Ichigo was supposed to deal with this quickly then go back to his family but this Arrancar was trouble, he had released his true form, and it gave him some power to stop the reiatsu flow to prevent increase in power levels, in simple turns Ichigo couldn't go Bankai, he wasn't strong enough

"Silly boy, did you really think you could kill me, Ichigo?" not long into the battle Ichigo had identified the hollow as some serial killer he had helped put to prison after they had rescued him from a car crash.

"Yea well, I guess I'm a tad rusty" breathing slowly Ichigo closed his eyes, he thought about his sister's Karin, who had taken a soccer scholarship and Yuzu who was continuing to stay and help their father, he thought about his dad, the crazy bastered had finally calmed down when he got married to Rukia, he was good for advise now-a-days, he thought about his mother, she used to be the fuel of his power but he had moved on when his father killed the grand fisher, lastly he thought about his wife, he thought about how she had changed his world, those thoughts drifted to his Daughter, Masana, the best thing he ever made.

The Arrancar began moving towards him but when it was but a few meters away it felt a huge amount of pressure, the boy's reiatsu was spiking, at a huge rate for that matter

"W what is this?

"Arrancar? I'm sorry but I can't play games anymore" looking forwards Ichigo had vanished, then within seconds he was in front of the Arrancar's face, his blade just touching it's mask

"What are you planning to do" the Arrancar was confident he was safe until he saw the smirk on Ichigo's face

"BAN"

"Shit"

"KAI"

Rukia sat on her sofa, waiting for that soft calm spiritual pressure that normal followed her husband, she was sure he would come home, he always did, but now that he had to fight again she was filled with doubts, then something happened, she was blown back by a huge amount of pressure, it was old yet new as if someone had taken an old rusted sword and made it pretty again "what is that?" the front door opened and the raven haired girl gasped, there he was as if he had never left

"Rukia, I'm home" the old smirk was back on his face.

She had her Ichigo, he was back.

**Ok so what did you think? Was it good or bad, please review, it's been a while since I wrote a story from fresh so I need as much advice as possible. Thanks from your faithful writer **

**Okibimaru **


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